Mexico revives Aztec ball game
A complex for the pre-Hispanic sport known simply as 'the ball game' is being built in Mexico City
Saturday March 13 2010
Officials at Mexico's capital city said they are building a new court complex for the pre-Hispanic sport known simply as "the ball game".
The game was an important Aztec ceremony in which competitors sought to knock a ball through a stone hoop fixed to a wall, using their hips.
It is still played on a small scale by some groups and authorities in Mexico City are trying to revive the tradition.
City officials said the new court complex would cover about 9,500 square yards and cost about three million pesos (240,000 US dollars) to build.
But nowadays the winners of the games will no longer be sacrificed to the gods, as most were when the city was founded by the Aztecs in 1325.
